The Shadow of the Gods: Spoiler Free Review!
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- Опубліковано 10 вер 2024
- A Spoiler-free review for John Gwynne's new release: The Shadow of the Gods.
US Release Date: May 4th, 2021
too long, didn't listen: READ THIS BOOK!
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Such an excellent review on this book!! Agreed 100% on this review. Well done, my friend!!
Thanks, Petrik! ☺️☺️ Can’t wait until we can discuss spoilers and gush about it all over again!
Loved listening to this awesome review. Such an in-depth analysis that was so engaging. We're a bit bias, but we think it is great as well :). So glad you enjoyed!
Thank you! That means a lot coming from you guys :) This is certainly an easy book to love, and I cannot wait to see how the series progresses. ☺️
Home run review, Sarah! What you described is what I consider good world building. Good world building isn't just about creating a unique setting; we should be able to see how that setting affects characterization, culture, and narrative. That's my preference anyway!
Thanks, Johanna. I totally agree. I love seeing the worldbuilding come to life through the characters. Give me that over massive info-dumps any day!
Sounds very interesting. I'll give it a try.
The use of kennings like "thought-cage" reflects Old Norse literature (there is even a "thought-shed" in one famous poem) , but in history they most likely didn't use them in everyday life. So this is mostly the author's decision.
The name Varg means wolf in Old Norse and some of the modern Nordic languages. And Orka is "to endure, to be able".
I haven’t read any Old Norse lit, so I hadn’t heard of kennings; very interesting. I also love those details about the characters - they add so much depth to the story. Thanks for such a thoughtful comment! ☺️
Currently reading it, and as an Norwegian, I must say that it not only is great fun to read: Gwynne knows both his Norse/Scandinavian mythology & terminology and how to play around with it!
That said, some of the names are prehaps a bit on the nose, such as calling a cold place «Iskalt» (Norwegian: Iskaldt-«Ice Cold»)!
1/3 in, I actually find the Eivor sections the most interesting: Enjoy the others too (Varg is so far a bit of a hot mess and Orka as Valkyrie-Liam Neeson is cool), but Eivor keeps me fascinated as to what her role is gonna be. Also, as someone who grew up with fairytales about Trolls as something to fear and defeat, I oddly found the Iskalt Troll section terrifying, hilarious and genuinely quite sad at the same time! And I am 99.999% certain about is that the «Night Wyrms» are inspired by the Hattifnattians from the Moomin-stories by Tove Jansson: 100% legit nightmare-fuel at age 5 as G-rated zombies, and somehow Gwynne turned the Night Wyrms as scary for me now!
I’m glad you’re enjoying it! It must be fun to read and find elements that you recognize. ☺️ It just gets better and better, in my opinion. Enjoy!
Wow, after listening to such an intelligently articulated review, how could I not subscribe? Fantastic video! Already have it pre ordered, can't wait!
Thank you so much; I hope you enjoy the channel ☺️ Also, I love your username! 🐺 🌙
Top notch review. One of the best I’ve heard! Thank you for all of the detail without spoilers, and the questions you posed were very intriguing. Well done!
Thanks so much :) I'm glad that you enjoyed! Have you read the novel or just considering reading?
@@TheBookCure I haven’t read it yet, but after listening to your review I’m going to try and pick it up sometime soon.
You nailed this review. Everything you said is spot on. Great job!
Thank you so much :) I'm glad you enjoyed!
Fantastic review! I haven’t read any of his stuff yet, really looking forward to this series! 😀
Thank you ☺️ I hope you enjoy; if you like his style you have lots of other books to tide you over while you wait 🤩
I wasn't really sold on this book before and i've heard so much about it. But you really hit something the others haven't and now I really want to read it. And as someone who lives in Sweden and has studied northern mythology I kind of want to see if he got it right as well.
So glad to hear that! I hope that if you do pick it up you love it! Would love to hear your thoughts on the setting if you do pick it up :)
@F G2000 I hope you love it! I’ll have some spoilery content up next week 😁
Recently finished Malice and Valour. I never read every book in a series one after another so I'm tempted to make this the next John Gwynne I read.
I think that’s a great idea! This is distinct enough that it won’t feel like a continuation of FatF, but it’s got all that Gwynne goodness!
Loved this book and love John Gwynne...I definitely see an evolution in his writing! Plus...that cover!
Undoubtedly! The covers for the series are just next level. I’m excited to get to the second one soon.
@@TheBookCure Two more months and we get book two, can't wait!
I could not agree more. I think this is possibly Gwynne's best book. Elvar took a little time to click for me also, but Varg and Orka were hits right from the beginning.
You managed to be much more eloquent here than I was in my review. I struggled for negatives too.
Great job.
So hard to find those negatives when you love a book 😅
Glad you enjoyed so much as well! We will sit this agonizing wait together. 😊
It was on my most exciting books for this trimester can not wait to see what you think..
OMG sounds even cooler than i thought!
what an amazing review :D
Thank you so much! I'm excited for you to get to read it soon - hope you enjoy! :)
Damnit this review was sublime. I was already excited for the release but after this video I absolutely cannot wait. You gave a fantastic overview and I feel like I know everything I need to know to get started now. I am kinda mad at you for making me this excited :')
I’m sorry!! 🤣🤣 Thank you so much - that means a lot to me. I really hope you love it when you pick it up!
What is the best place to start with John Gwynne yathink? Cheers.
Depends on what you prefer! Faithful and the Fallen is more classic/heroic fantasy, whereas Bloodsworn Saga is darker. I think his writing improves with time, so I’d rather start with FatF and move forward from there, but you really can’t go wrong either way!
I plan to read this before his other works, am I dooming myself?
Only dooming yourself to discovering a fantastic author whose books you’ll have to read right away ;)
In all seriousness, it’s a great starting place! And the other books are still fantastic, so I don’t think you find them a “step down” or anything like that!
I'll be starting here as well bro. Excited to dig in for sure.
@@bmoneybby I hope you love it!
Whooo!!! Can't wait to read this.
Great review btw! 😊
So excited for you! I hope you love it. And thank you 😊
Thank you for the review. I have not started this series yet. But it is high on my TBR.
Good to hear! I hope you love it when you pick it up ☺️
I'm in the minority here, but Elvar is my favorite POV character in the book! She seemed the most realistic. Orka was great though, but Varg never really clicked with me. I liked Vargs chapters only because of his companions, which were some of the best characters in the book. Overall, I liked Shadow of the Gods, but I think Malice is the better first book in the series. BTW, "thought-cage" was very annoying to me haha
I know one of the Gwynne brothers preferred Elvar as well! Varg’s companions were excellent, undoubtedly! And I also still prefer the Banished Lands, though I love all his books ☺️
@@TheBookCure Revenge plots are not my favorite, so maybe that is why I dont like Orka or Varg as much. Orka is a badass though! I like your subtle "primal" hint you put in your review. But yeah, when I read Malice last year, I was blown away. The characters are all so real to me! Who is your favorite Banished Lands character? Mine is Veradis.
@@joshramirez7 Bleda is my favourite! But I love so many! Veradis, Corban, Gar! His characters just worn their way into my heart.
Hi Sarah. Really detailed video. I'm a writer and I want to learn writing better action. For that purpose, should I go for Faithful and the fallen series or reading this book, Shadow of the Gods is enough?
Thank you! Any by John Gwynne would be helpful, but for large-scale battles, Faithful and the Fallen would be the better choice. David Gemmell is also a great resource, along with Joe Abercrombie or Bernard Cornwell!
@@TheBookCure I'm going to read Best Served Cold by Abercrombie (It's gonna be my first Abercrombie read). Is that a good choice for violent action?
@@cinemorbit All his books have great action scenes! How come you’re starting there instead of with the trilogy? (Not that you can’t, it’s just interesting!)
@@TheBookCure Actually I'm gonna read the book only because of action. I'm running short on time. 😅 And I'm gonna start Asoiaf too. That's why !
@@cinemorbit Ahh, makes sense! The Heroes is more action heavy than BSC, but both are good!
I feel like a John Gwynne fan failure cause I received a digital ARC and haven't touched it. I blame losing my kindle while traveling. but I'm so hyped for his.
Losing your kindle is heartbreaking! I find it much harder to read through the app on my phone. I hope that when you get to it you really love it :)
I meant 2 say before. I dig that chair you're sitting in. 😁 Back 2 the topic. I haven't read this series or Author. Nice video. 👍
Thank you! It’s so comfy ☺️ If you like heroic fantasy, definitely give Gwynne a read!
I already pre ordered mine and I can't wait to have it in my hands 🤗.
You're so good at reviews. I didn't think I could be even more excited, and yet I am!
Thanks so much for the kind words! I’m so excited for you - I hope you have the best time reading it!
I can't wait to read this book the library still doesn't have it yet going to be reading the of blood and bone trilogy in may 🤗😊😚
I love the trilogy. A Time of Courage is my favourite book by Gwynne!
And now I have to read this too
Hahaha, having more great books to read is not the worst problem 😉